Vogue 'Fashion's Night Out' @ Harvey Nichols, Leeds

Last night Vogue and Harvey Nichols teamed up for the Leeds edition of 'Fashion's Night Out'. Shang Ting and Stacey from Hebe Media were at the event, here are their thoughts:

What was the event like?

Shang Ting: FNO in Leeds focused on creating a pleasant shopping experience. Live music, champagne, helpful staff (and of course the discount of brands) created a nice atmosphere. But as I know, it was quite a different scene in FNO London or FNO New York, perhaps this Leeds event was more comparable to the Victoria Quarter Shopping Affair.

Stacey: Fashion's Night out at Harvey Nichols was a nice event. I did not know what to expect as the different #fno events all over the world were doing different things. The store was packed and after a brief belly dancing show on the catwalk there was a fashion show which covered 3 floors. The models were all gorgeous, although the majority of the girls looked so much like Victoria Beckham, it was hard to tell them apart! The guys looked great too. Although the show was cool, there was a few minor hiccups: one shoe lost on the escalator, one slip off the stage and various nipple slips! Afterwards Shang Ting and I decided to have skin consultations with Clinique and we both came away with new products. Before we left, we grabbed one more glass of champagne and caught up with some of our friends.

Your personal highlight of the night? 

Shang Ting: I enjoyed the fashion show, they set catwalks through 3 floors to make sure everyone in the store could catch a glimpse. It was also cool to see the models and clothes so close up, which the made the event feel intimate. 

Stacey: My personal highlight of the night was definitely the male model who came out in referee boxers and stripy socks, the reason being, he completed his 'outfit' with a LUFC scarf! I almost started singing 'Marching On Together'...but i resisted and just took a few snap shots.

Any other observations?

Shang Ting: The FNO shopping bag they sold at the event, which was 10 pounds, said London on it, I thought I was in Leeds? 

Stacey: The live music on the cosmetics floor, it added a nice touch to the evening and the musician was very happy and friendly. Also the Soap and Glory counter... love their shower cream! PS - Where's my goodie bag? ;)

Cultural Conversations: Tales Of Our Cities

Last Friday I attended Cultutal Conversations: Tales of our cities at the Round Foundry, Leeds. The event was the latest in a series organised by The Culture Vulture. During the event different conversation topics are proposed and you take yourself along to which ever one takes your fancy.

The subjects range from 'Blogging without fear' to 'What to do about the council' and the forumla works very well. I often found myself wanting to attend more then one of the conversations which is a great sign. The conversations I attended were 'What to do about the council', 'Better to ask for forgiveness then permission' and a subject which I proposed: 'Retaining Leeds talent'. In each group there are people of different levels of experience, different motives, varied interests and this difference in people often creates a lively dynamic and sometimes heated exchange of views. 

One thing I found myself saying over and over in all three conversations was "Just do it". I really believe that if people are passionate about a project or idea they will find a way to at least get it off the ground and after that anything can happen. There seems to be a lot of people in the city who are feeling the same way. Projects, some at idea stage, some at 'about to go mainstream' are happening all over Leeds. I hear a lot of talk about 'lets take action' and 'so what will be the result' etc and I think people who think of things purely in that way are missing a lot of the magic happening at the moment. There is a big shift taking place right now: people are talking, collaborating, making things happen and this is happening regardless of the support of government or funding bodies. 

The conversations taking place at the moment are building relationships, trust and creating spaces to share knowledge and skills. What I also like about these events is what they allow you to learn in a negative yet still constructive way also. There are people or projects that you will not immediately love or agree with, but this is all part of the process of people connecting. Like-minded people will connect and work together and the 'results' are already there to be seen.

After the afternoons events and conversations we moved onto the 'secret social' where we enjoyed drinks, music and delicious food thanks to Fish&. All in all it was an excellent day and evening, a big "thank you" goes to Emma, Phil, Mike and everyone else who helped to make the event a success.

Leeds Loves Shopping / Birds Yard Goodie Bag

We got these goodie bags from the Leeds Loves Shopping press launch, and we were pleasently surprised with the contents. As you can see in the pictures, Bird's Yard provided another bag within the main goodie bag, and their stuff was fun! Every Birds Yard bag contained different items, so were all comparing to see who got the best stuff.

Here are some of the highlights:

Leeds Innovation Lab

On Wednesday I attended the inaugural meeting of 'Leeds Innovation Lab'. The event was organised and facilitated by Mike Chitty, who in my opinion is one of the most important assets and voices we have in Leeds at the moment.

The people who attended were from a number of different backgrounds: social enterprise, communications, culture, charities, adult healthcare, the council, financial services and more. The mix of people and backgrounds seemed to work very well. There were a number of common themes and ideas between us all and the enthausiasm for Leeds was really inspiring to see.

As the people who know me personally can testify to, I am really passionate about Leeds and our potential both to improve things internally and then take our city and its talent to a national and international audience. Sometimes when reading certain publications or hearing certain messages in the media it can be easy to almost want to 'give up' or at the most 'consolidate' as a city. Seeing some of the other people at Innovation Lab and hearing their views gave me a shot in the arm and renewed belief that the current financial mess we are all in, could have created the perfect window of opportunity to take a breath and evaluate what we are doing, and perhaps make some changes.

Innovation Lab could potentially be something very important moving forward. Where the idea will end up is still a couple of steps away at the moment but an excellent start has been made. I am sure Mike and everyone else involved will want to keep the momentum going and achieve tangible results and outcomes from the ideas put forward.

It seems there is a lot going on 'underground' in Leeds at the moment. Lots of great events are going on, thanks to people like John Popham & Monica Tailor with Leeds Social Media Surgery, the awesome Emma at The Culture Vulture with the Cultural Conversations events, and many more. Working groups are being formed, people are connecting and talking, tweets are turning into friendships and it seems everyone is wanting the same thing overall... to make Leeds as great as possible. Everyone has their own motives and areas of expertise and there will be a lot of people fighting for their 'space' in this new landscape, but overall I really do feel that this is the most exciting/intriguing time in city for... well as long as I can remember and I am delighted to be a part of it!

'Leeds Loves Shopping' Launch

Leeds Design Talent On Display Last night the Hebe Media team attended the launch event of 'Leeds Loves Shopping', a festival organised by Marketing Leeds and Leeds City Council. The event was designed to give the press a chance to meet and talk to some of the main people involved in the festival, such as Leeds Fashion Show, Leeds Rocks and some of the organisers. 

The thing that we liked most about the evening was the attention given to Leeds-based talent. Many Leeds designers showcased examples of their work and chatted with bloggers and reporters about the part they will play in the event. It gave me a chance to catch up with James Steward, who I consider one of the best designers we have in the city, and to talk about what he hoped to get out of the festival and also more long term aims (more on this in the coming weeks).

Leeds Fashion Show and Leeds Rocks are events that form two of the real stand out 'pilars' of the festival. Leeds Fashion show is now in it's 5th year and is going from strength to strength. This year it will be held at Leeds Museum on Tuesday, October 19th and will again feature the 'Leeds Designer of The Year Award' which was won by Rav Matharu last year. The people behind this show are something special: dedicated, talented and very ambitious. It is my hope that we as a city, can support this project in a big way moving forward.

Leeds Rocks is a new event, which will showcase some of the best Leeds creative talent in fashion, music, dance and art. The event will be held at Saviles Hall (Clarence Dock) on Friday 15th October. Details of the event are been kept pretty secret at the moment but we all have high hopes that the team behind it will create a special show.

Hebe Media's Shang Ting With Lomo & Pimms!Hebe Media's Stacey With The Gorgeous Cupcakes!

 There are still some plans to be finalised like the 'Merrion Centre Fashion Show', which seems interesting/strange but we are glad that during the ten day festival there seems to be some exposure and much needed help for the independent and vintage scene in Leeds and that is most definitely the part of 'Leeds Loves Shopping' that excites us the most.

We must also at this stage say a big "thank you" to Birds Yard and others for the cool goodie bags (separate blog post coming about the bags!) and to the organisers of last night's event for some very nice nibbles and Pimms.